A paleoecologia humana da Lapa do Picareiro

A Lapa do Picareiro localiza-se na Serra d’Aire, a cerca de 10 km a Sul de Fátima. A povoação mais próxima é Covão do Coelho, que se encontra a menos de 2 km de distância e é perfeitamente visível da cavidade. Esta encontra-se a 540 metros de altitude estando virada a poente. A cavidade, em forma triangular, tem cerca de 10 metros de profundidade e 8 metros de largura, sendo a entrada marcada pela presença de um cone importante composto por grandes blocos de calcário que ajudam a marcar a drip line, que forma um corredor com entre 3 a 5 metros entre aquele e a entrada da gruta que se estende por cerca de 5 metros de largura com 1,2 de altura (Bicho et al., 2003). Os trabalhos recentes realizados na gruta tiveram lugar entre 1994, ano em que se procedeu à limpeza de um antigo corte resultante dos trabalhos de Gustavo Marques e Gil Miguéis de Andrade nos anos 50 (Marques e Andrade, 1974) e 2001. Durante este período de 8 anos procederam-se a trabalhos de escavação em área, atingindo os 37 metros quadrados e cerca de 4,5 metros de profundidade

Lapa do Picareiro, un asentamiento de caza magdaleniense en la Estremadura portuguesa

Lapa do Picareiro es un yacimiento situado en la Estremadura portuguesa, en la Serra d’Aire. Los estudios zooarqueológicos llevados a cabo nos hablan de un lugar especializado de caza y procesado de distintas especies animales durante el magdaleniense y el epipaleolítico. Por su parte, los análisis líticos confirman la presencia de un utillaje en el que destacan las laminillas de dorso empleadas como proyectiles y las lascas y láminas destinadas al corte de carne y al tratamiento de la piel.Lapa do Picareiro is a cave site located in Serra d’Aire, Portuguese Estremadura. Zooarchaeological studies suggest that the cave was a specialized site for hunting and processing animals during the Magdalenian and the Epipaleolithic. Lithic analyses seem to confirm this idea with the presence of backed bladelets used as projectile points and flakes with evidence of cutting meat and hide processing

Lapa do Picareiro (Alcanede, Portugal): análisis traceológico de los materiales líticos de los niveles F/G

Lapa do Picareiro (Cueva de Picareiro) está situado al noroeste de Lisboa, cerca de la ciudad de Fátima, en la Serra d’Aire (Figura 1). La cueva, que se localiza a 540 metros de altitud, muestra una morfología triangular, un alto techo y una entrada de aproximadamente 10´8 metros (Figura 2). Debajo de la línea del goteo aparece un cono marcado por la presencia de grandes bloques de piedra caliza, formando uno pasillo abierto de entre 3 y 5 metros de ancho entre la línea del goteo y la boca de la cueva. La entrada se abre dirección norte-noreste y tiene cerca de 5 metros de anchura y un máximo de 1.2 metros de altura (Bicho et al. , 2003; 2006a). Las excavaciones arqueológicas se iniciaron en 1994 con la limpieza de un corte estratigráfico realizado por Gustavo Marques en los años 50 (Marques y Andrade, 1974). En 2001 finalizan los trabajos de campo iniciados en 1996 con motivo de los proyectos dirigidos por N. Bicho: “A Ocupação Humana Paleolítica do Algarve” y “ A importância dos recursos aquáticos no Paleolítico do Algarve (Portugal)” (Bicho et al. , 2003). Durante estos años se excavan unos 35 m2 con una profundidad de 4.5 metros

Evidence for Pleistocene gene flow through the ice-free corridor from extinct horses and camels from Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming

Natural Trap Cave (Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming) preserves an abundance of fossil remains from extinct Late Pleistocene fauna and is situated near a past migration route that likely connected populations in Eastern Beringia and the contiguous US—the ice-free corridor between the Cordilleran and Laurentide icesheets. Some palaeontological evidence supports a correspondingly high affinity between fauna recorded in Natural Trap Cave and Eastern Beringia versus elsewhere in the contiguous US, but this hypothesis has not yet been extensively tested using genetic data. In the present study, we analysed 16 horse specimens and one camel specimen from Natural Trap Cave. Of the horse specimens we analysed, we obtained 10 unique and previously unreported mitochondrial haplotypes belonging to two distinct (extinct) genetic clades—two haplotypes corresponded to a caballine horse (Equus sp.) and eight corresponded to the stilt-legged horse (Haringtonhippus francisci). With only one exception, it appears these newly sequenced individuals all shared a common ancestor more recently with Eastern Beringian individuals than with others from the contiguous US. In addition, mitochondrial data from a specimen assigned to Camelops sp. revealed that it shares a closer affinity with specimens from the Yukon Territory than those from Idaho or Nevada, though all appear to belong to a single species (“yesterday''s camel”; Camelops cf. hesternus). Together, these results are consistent with a high level of genetic connectivity between horse and camel populations in the Bighorn Mountains and Eastern Beringia during the Pleistocene. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd and INQU

The Value of Literacy Practices

The concepts of literacy events and practices have received considerable attention in educational research and policy. In comparison, the question of value, that is, ‘which literacy practices do people most value?’ has been neglected. With the current trend of cross-cultural adult literacy assessment, it is increasingly important to recognise locally valued literacy practices. In this paper we argue that measuring preferences and weighting of literacy practices provides an empirical and democratic basis for decisions in literacy assessment and curriculum development and could inform rapid educational adaptation to changes in the literacy environment. The paper examines the methodological basis for investigating literacy values and its potential to inform cross-cultural literacy assessments. The argument is illustrated with primary data from Mozambique. The correlation between individual values and respondents’ socio-economic and demographic characteristics is explored

Spectroscopic and Structural Probing of Excited-State Molecular Dynamics with Time-Resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Ultrafast Electron Diffraction

Pump-probe measurements aim to capture the motion of electrons and nuclei on their natural timescales (femtoseconds to attoseconds) as chemical and physical transformations take place, effectively making molecular movies with short light pulses. However, the quantum dynamics of interest are filtered by the coordinate-dependent matrix elements of the chosen experimental observable. Thus, it is only through a combination of experimental measurements and theoretical calculations that one can gain insight into the internal dynamics. Here, we report on a combination of structural (relativistic ultrafast electron diffraction, or UED) and spectroscopic (time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, or TRPES) measurements to follow the coupled electronic and nuclear dynamics involved in the internal conversion and photodissociation of the polyatomic molecule, diiodomethane (CH2I2). While UED directly probes the 3D nuclear dynamics, TRPES only serves as an indirect probe of nuclear dynamics via Franck-Condon factors, but it is sensitive to electronic energies and configurations, via Koopmans\u27 correlations and photoelectron angular distributions. These two measurements are interpreted with trajectory surface hopping calculations, which are capable of simulating the observables for both measurements from the same dynamics calculations. The measurements highlight the nonlocal dynamics captured by different groups of trajectories in the calculations. For the first time, both UED and TRPES are combined with theory capable of calculating the observables in both cases, yielding a direct view of the structural and nonadiabatic dynamics involved

Clovis Age Western Stemmed Projectile Points and Human Coprolites at the Paisley Caves

The Paisley Caves in Oregon record the oldest directly dated human remains (DNA) in the Western Hemisphere. More than 100 high-precision radiocarbon dates show that deposits containing artifacts and coprolites ranging in age from 12,450 to 2295 ¹⁴C years ago are well stratified. Western Stemmed projectile points were recovered in deposits dated to 11,070 to 11,340 ¹⁴C years ago, a time contemporaneous with or preceding the Clovis technology. There is no evidence of diagnostic Clovis technology at the site. These two distinct technologies were parallel developments, not the product of a unilinear technological evolution. “Blind testing” analysis of coprolites by an independent laboratory confirms the presence of human DNA in specimens of pre-Clovis age. The colonization of the Americas involved multiple technologically divergent, and possibly genetically divergent, founding groups

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)